PHILADELPHIA — At a news conference here Wednesday, David Eisner, president of the National Constitution Center, said there are three reasons it’s the center is displaying the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s huge exhibit on singer Bruce Springsteen:

In the year that marks the 225th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, Springsteen offers “a unique and exciting perspective that speaks to what we have with our First Amendment freedoms.” Eisner said at a news conference Wednesday.

Springsteen’s work is “all about the American dream. It charts the distance between what we are and where we want to be.”

And, for Springsteen, a southern New Jersey native, “this is home.”

So on Feb. 17, “From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen” will open a run of more than six months at the center, bringing more than 150 artifacts chronicling the life and work of Springsteen.

Springsteen's Corvette

It is the first — and, officials said, the only — time the exhibit will be displayed outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The show covers 10 rooms and more than 5,000 feet at the Constitution Center, and was never meant to travel.

It will bring to Philadelphia more than 150 artifacts, including the singer’s early scrapbooks, posters and placards of performances with early bands; iconic guitars, including one he took with him to his Grammy Awards performance Sunday; and more than 20 pieces of clothing, including the outfit he wore on his biggest-selling album, “Born in the U.S.A.”

Constitution Center officials expect it will bring tens of thousands of new visitors to the center. More than 6,000 advance tickets have been sold, and a preview reception at the center Wednesday was a sellout, with more than 1,100 attending — “the biggest opening event we’ve ever had,” Eisner said.

At the event, original E. Street Band drummer Vini Lopez played with the Springsteen tribute band The B Street Band.

Vini Lopez, rear, drums at opening ceremony

Ed Johnson, mayor of Asbury Park, N.Y., where Springsteen played early shows and after which he named his first album, "Greetings From Asbury Park," spoke of how Springsteen's music "is woven in the very fabric of our culture and the American dream."

"It's a surreal night, opening a Bruce Springsteen exhibit," Johnson said. "You talk about the American dream. It doesn't get any better than that. Tonight I bring you Greetings from Asbury Park!"

And “visitors are truly in for a treat,” he said. “It’s a masterpiece.”

Eisner said he expects the exhibit to be “one of the hallmarks of a very special year” at the center.

The exhibit comes at a fortuitous tune, Eisner noted, with Springsteen’s profile again on an upswing.

“There’s a lot of buzz about Bruce these days,” Eisner said.

Wall of Springsteen's handwritten lyrics

He noted Springsteen’s Grammy appearance and his upcoming album, “Wrecking Ball,” which is his first studio album in more than three years. The first single, “We Take Care of Our Own,” was released Jan. 19.

And Springsteen will play two shows at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on March 28 and 29 — his first shows in the city since a four-show run before the old Spectrum closed in October 2009.

The exhibit stays true to the way it was at the Hall of Fame, Eisner said, with only small adaptations to highlight the connections between Springsteen and constitutional freedoms and Springsteen’s connections to the Philadelphia area,

The biggest reason the exhibit is being shown in Philadelphia, officials said, is that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame agreed, and Springsteen gave his approval.

Springsteen guitars

“It made sense for it to come here,” said Jim Henke, the Hall of Fame's vice president of exhibitions and chief curator, a confidant of Springsteen who organized “From Asbury Park to the Promised Land.” “I’m really happy with the exhibit and how it looks at the Constitution Center.”

Springsteen has deep roots and an avid fan base in the Philadelphia area. He played the old Philadelphia Spectrum 42 time times and wrote the Academy Award-winning song “Streets of Philadelphia.”

He said it has “a broad expanse that appeals to a lot of people” — both casual and rabid fans.

For example, there are listening stations to hear never-released songs by the early Springsteen band, the Castiles; the 1972 audition with legendary producer John Hammond that won Springsteen a contract with Columbia Records; and the show that prompted reviewer (and later Springsteen manager) John Landau to write he had “seen the future of rock and rock and it’s Bruce Springsteen.”

Gold and platinum records

Henke worked closely with Springsteen to develop the exhibit. And while it’s been at the Hall of Fame since 2009, Springsteen has constantly updated it. For example, he added a jacket he wore to perform for President Barack Obama.

The Boss, as Springsteen is known, sometimes retrieves items from the exhibit. For instance, the Fender guitar Springsteen holds on the cover of “Born to Run” — a guitar so well known among fans that it gets cheers when Springsteen pulls it out in concert — is scheduled to be in the Philadelphia show. But Springsteen wanted to play it at the Grammys.

He didn’t, but it’s not due back at the Constitution Center until after the weekend.

jFROM ASBURY PARK TO THE PROMISED LAND: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, Feb. 17 to Sept. 3, National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St., Independence Mall, Philadelphia. Hours: 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays; noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. Tickets $24.50 for adults, $23 for students with ID and seniors, and $12 for ages 4-12. On sale at www.constitutioncenter.org, by calling 215-409-6700 or at the door if available. Admission to the museum is included, and group rates are available.

Some highlights: Springsteen’s early scrapbooks; table at which he did all his early songwriting, with notebooks of handwritten lyrics; iconic guitars; two of his Grammy Awards, Golden Globe Award and his Academy Award for theme from “Dead Man Walking”; recordings of performances with earlier bands; clothes he wore on the cover of “Born in the U.S.A.” album; and even the Corvette he bought after the success of that album.

JOHN J. MOSER has been around long enough to have seen the original Ramones in a small club in New Jersey, U2 from the fourth row of a theater and Bob Dylan's born-again tours. But he also has the number for All-American Rejects' Nick Wheeler on his cell phone, wrote the first story ever done on Jack's Mannequin and hung out in Wiz Khalifa's hotel room.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

JODI DUCKETT: As The Morning Call's assistant features editor responsible for entertainment, she spends a lot of time surveying the music landscape and sizing up the Valley's festivals and club scene. She's no expert, but enjoys it all — especially artists who resonated in her younger years, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tracy Chapman, Santana and Joni Mitchell.

KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS enjoys all types of music, from roots rock and folk to classical and opera. Music has been a constant backdrop to her life since she first sat on the steps listening to her mother’s Broadway LPs when she was 2. Since becoming a mother herself, she has become well-versed on the growing genre of kindie rock and, with her son in tow, can boast she has seen a majority of the current kid’s performers from Dan Zanes to They Might Be Giants.

STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS: A Jersey native raised in Northeast PA, she was reared in a house littered with 8-tracks, 45s and cassette tapes of The Beatles, Elvis, Meatloaf and Billy Joel. She also grew up on the sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw and can be found traversing the countryside in search of the sounds of a steel guitar. A fan of today's 'new country,' she digs mainstream/country-pop crossovers like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland and other artists that illustrate the genre's diversity.